Improved drainage and greater air-filled porosity of raised beds in south-western Victoria

Abstract

Crop production in south-western Victoria has historically been constrained by waterlogging. As a result raised beds have recently become a popular tillage method on soils prone to waterlogging. Soil water properties, air-filled porosity, plant dry matter, and grain yield were compared for raised beds and conventional cultivation treatments during 2003 and 2004. Although rainfall was less than the long-term average, over the whole period the raised beds had consistently lower water content and drained faster than the conventional cultivation. Air-filled porosity was greater and above the critical value of 10% for longer in the raised beds (e.g. in 2004 air-filled porosity was >10% for 69 day..